Get your motor running, head out on the highway, Looking for adventure in whatever comes our way...

Elle Fashion Shoot - all you need to know...

No, you are not dreaming. Here’s your chance to star in an ELLE fashion shoot! You don’t have to be tall. You don’t have to be skinny. (If we were looking for models, we know where to go.)
Go to page 46 of our July issue for all you need to know about this fantastic opportunity to star in an ELLE fashion shoot. To be one of the six selected, you do have to be stylish and have a sense of personal style. You have to be spirited too, of course! We are looking for young women who are proud and powerful, and whose love for life is visible in their walk, their smile and in their eyes.
On shoot day, you will have the run of the ELLE fashion closet to style your own look for the shoot. We will supply the hairstylists and make-up artists to finish off the picture.

 

TO ENTER:
Send us three full-length pictures of yourself wearing three different outfits you have put together. There’s no need to hire a professional photographer, but the pictures need to be in focus and taken against a plain backdrop.

Then complete the entry form on page 47 of our July issue and email it, along with your pictures, to rustyb@avusa.co.za with ‘ELLE Belle’ in the subject line.
Closing date: 16 July 2012

For more information and terms and conditions, read page 47 of the July issue of ELLE.

Elon Musk on Mars

SPACEX Merlin 1D Rocket Test, in Texas - earlier this week

Prometheus Omnibus - All the insights, from the director and actors (AUDIO + TRANSCRIPTS)

What did David say to the Engineer? Find out here.

Fascinating Analysis:  Prometheus Unbound: What The Movie Was Actually About 

Prometheus: 8 Key Themes In Understanding The Film

Introduction
You can read PART 1 of this series HERE.
You can read PART 2 of this series HERE.
In the first article of this “Answering the Titan” series we attempted to decipher the clues that are laid out in Prometheus in an effort to solve what many see as an ambiguous storyline, observing that the movie presents a series of hints alluding to plot answers, though few if any of these answers are definitive. In the second article we explored the mythological and literary motifs that form the philosophical backdrop for the Prometheus narrative, and concluded that Prometheus weaves its narrative tapestry from a disparate collection of ancient myths and legends.
In this article we will talk about the key themes underlying Prometheus which, at its heart, is a cautionary tale about the dangers of dabbling with that which is not fully understood; and a fable that creation, progression and knowledge are unalterably linked to the interwoven notions of creation and destruction.

1. The Premise: Aliens Seeded Life On Earth

The overarching central idea of Prometheus is that it serves as an exploration of the dynamics between the creator and the created. We have 3 ‘races’ here: Engineer, human, and android, arising from their mythological parallel- the 3 key ‘races’ from classical Antiquity: titan, Olympian, and human. The exploration of this dynamic stems from the film’s central premise: that eons and eons in the past an ancient race of super-beings, whom Shaw will one day optimistically christen ‘Engineers’, helped seed life as we know it on Earth.

Read the rest.

Here's my review: SHOOT Reviews Prometheus 3D

Below is a collection of interesting reading, providing background, interpretations, debate and some compelling conjecture.

Listen to the audio commentary at the beginning of this review from Slate.

Prometheus Poses Eternal Questions About Science, Creationism

Origin of the Creepy Species, Prometheus-Style

Review: Majestic Visuals Power Prometheus Through Big, Murky Ideas

Prometheus Crew Spills Its Guts About Movie’s Most Shocking Scene



Ridley Scott, Director of Prometheus [Audio + Transcript]:

As usual, I’m offering you two ways to get the interview:  you can either click here for the audio, or the full transcript is below.

Question: How are you doing today, sir? Congratulations.
Ridley Scott:  Thank you, sir. Look at this technology (he’s talking about all the recorders on the table). Jesus Christ. 40 years ago when Kirk said “Beam me up, Scotty” we used to think that was fucking ridiculous, remember? Seriously, that’s been 40 years and then when he says the “disintegration” of his matter into the “reintegration” of his matter in the next space, that right there is light speed. So they touched on light speed. I’ve talked to NASA about this and they’ve said that’s light speed. So “Can you do it?” They said “Yeah. Have you got seven glasses of water?” I go “Not the seven glasses of water trick, please.” There were all scientists in the room and he started to explain to me the relativity and the speed of light. “Can you do it?” “Yeah.” He said the only barrier is “us.” He said, I can mathematically explain how, but we haven’t gotten there with that.  And with that, first question. 

Get the full transcript here. 


Charlize Theron, Vickers in Prometheus [Audio + Transcript]:
As usual, I’m offering you two ways to get the interview:  you can either click here for the audio, or the full transcript is below.  If you want to hear Theron swear a lot, listen to the audio.


Question: Can you talk about how the script evolved from when you first read it?
Charlize Theron: Well, from the time that Ridley sent it to me, it was probably in a two-week period discussed it on the phone and he introduced me to Damon, and we kinda just had like a back and forth for a couple of days. Then Damon went for, I think just two weeks and did some writing and came back with a really, really good foundation. Then it kind of just continued, as all movies do. This wasn’t an unusual experience for me, that you then sit down and have more discussions about it and more things come out of it and little tweaks here and there and things come in and go out. You know, that’s kind of like ongoing for me on every movie, so that’s kind of how this came about.

Read the full transcript here. 

Michael Fassbender, David in Prometheus [Audio interview + Transcript] 
As usual, I’m offering you two ways to get the interview:  you can either click here for the audio, or the transcript is below.  Another warning, I’ve edited out a big spoiler in the transcript.  If you listen to the audio you’ll still hear it.  You’ve been warned.
–

Question: So are you enjoying that you can at least talk about the film a little bit?
Michael Fassbender: No, I much prefer it when I don’t have to say anything. (Laughs) It makes my job much easier. Yeah, I haven’t seen it yet. You guys have seen it and I haven’t seen it. I see it tomorrow with them at the premiere, so you can tell me. (Laughs)
You’re pretty good in it.
Fassbender: Thanks, man. It was fun. It was a lot of fun. What do you want to know

Read the full transcript here.




Two Bloggers who hated it:
1. Why Films Like Prometheus are Driving Me to Alcoholism
2. Review: ‘Prometheus’ is a Visually Stunning Epic Failure – Forbes
Barry Ronge on Prometheus
Barry Ronge on Charlize Theron in Prometheus

Reporter goes ghetto in 30 seconds

Peter Weyland on TED

Prometheus Demystified: Why I still think this is a one in a million film, and worthy of a 9/10

I think Prometheus works on two levels. Firstly, as a seriously intelligent film filled with symbolism and metaphor. And secondly, because it stands on its own. Scott paints as spectacularly as we've seen in the cinema. His creative visual paintbrush feels incredibly real whilst asking a series of very open ended questions. And not easy questions either. The second aspect is probably the reason why some people have not enjoyed this film; I'm speaking about those who didn’t get Ridley Scott’s Memo: THIS IS NOT A PREQUEL before they walked into the cinema.
I also think Prometheus isn’t a film you enjoy, nor are you supposed to but that doesn't mean it isn't excellent cinema. Do you enjoy reading the Bible? Do you enjoy thinking about the possible answers to some uncomfortable questions?

I suppose it’s to be expected that some folks would be disappointed – the slasher-film-in-space folks. But on a sci fi level, and as a space yarn, Prometheus is exceptional for its visuals, its creativity, its vision, its boldness and its mission. Vision and mission are not the same thing in this sense. Vision in film is the use of scale, and style,and tone and everything else in the execution of your mission – and the mission in this film was to set a much higher bar in terms of movie programming. What questions are we asking ourselves? Can they be answered? And this theme of unjustified beliefs is hard to live with. On Earth as it is in cinema – well, Prometheus in any event.

Let’s get down to the symbolism. I can’t get past the brilliant use of metaphor. The various ways in which the makers have demonstrated how we are part of the process that makes the monster. That all things are connected, and thus, we are connected (responsible) for the consequences. The theme of accountability and miscalculation in the future is I think, a very important one. Look at the world’s economies – it all started with some of the world’s most expected companies and banks facing bankruptcy, now we’re seeing entire nations facing the same. There is great irony in Greece – one of the world’s greatest civilisations, struggling to remain relevant in Europe (as part of that economy). Very quickly, Italy too, the heart of the Roman Empire, and other Empires (Great Britain and the United States) are seeing their fortunes fade. Do we know exactly why their fortunes have changed? I’m simply saying the current confusion, and state of alarm, matches so some extent the fatalism that we’ve come to expect from Ridley Scott’s adventures in space. Hence I feel a slasher in space would have been a wasted opportunity, there have been around 5 aliens films and this one needed to go in a different direction. Away from gratuitous violence and cliché, and towards something infinitely more sensible. It has.

The introduction of the ‘Engineers’ says a great deal about the filmmakers view of man and our beliefs. We see a reflection of man in these large, powerful, human monsters. They are also ghostly pale, bald and mute. Is this a reflection of our belief in God – someone personal, more powerful, unfathomable (and not necessarily in a good way) and at the same time impersonal, powerless and silent to all our concerns. Yes, silent to our concerns despite being intimately involved with them.
Intuitively the sense people have of ‘unanswered questions’ in this film seems to me to be the sort of childish ranting that faithful congregations suffer, but choose to ignore. If you don’t have an answer to your question, the movie seems to implore, then get the fuck off your butt and go and find it. Put in some blood and sweat. We seem to have become spoiled with all our conveniences – having all we need at our beck and call, at the push of a button or turn of a key or press of a pedal. And beyond these contrivances – will we make an effort to find out what troubles us?

I think it was the director’s motive to make audiences writhe a little (perhaps a lot) uncomfortably at around two third through the film. It is about seeing an outcome unravel in very unexpected ways. Where what we believe and what comes to pass, what is later evident, are discouragingly disparate.

The scene where Dr Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) covered in blood and banadage-like clothing, places a ring on her finger, clasps her hands so together, and summons up her will whilst looking at her perspiration-lathered self in the mirror – that scene speaks volumes of the sort of determination that has been necessary to face uncomfortable challenges in the past. One of them is ordinary survival. Another, is facing up to the reality of death, and possibly no afterlife beyond that.
There are other aspects that bolster this imputed sense of disappointment and despair – that life isn’t quite the happy place we thought it was when we went out to play, and explore. It is the deceptions and secrets of the father figure, the man who has, after all, funded the trip for all on board. It turns out the reason all players are on board is merely part of a personal and selfish plan. The android David suffers similar disappointment when Dr. Holloway, somewhat inebriated, informs him that people created him (built him) “because we could.” David responds, “Can you imagine how disappointing that would be for you to hear.”
Of course the reason David was made is both because we could and because of his use to us. Our use to God, according to the Bible, is after all not far different – “to glorify God”, in other words, to make God feel good about himself. Although no hint whether that implies anything far beyond words to that effect.

But even within the ALIEN/PROMETHEUS mythos is always this reflection within a reflection. We see the monsters devouring humans apparently at random, but some certainly appear either to deserve it or pay a clear price either for arrogance or some other implied failing (as occurs in life on earth). But we also see two other creations, made by man, that are possibly more intriguing, and simultaneously, more monstrous. We see robots made in our own image, by men, but with secret agendas, and sinister (often harmful) purposes hard wired. At the same time, these machines provide their comrades with useful intelligence and often decisive and vital aid. The other creation which is somehow worse than the ambiguous motives of the android, is the Company. The company is amorphous and all-powerful, eventually even more powerful than the monster (which it seeks to enslave towards its own ends). But at its heart, the Company, while the product of human endeavours, appears to be its antithesis. It appears – certainly in Scott’s series – to be evil incarnate, devious, greedy, ambitious, and immune to either the emotions or the predicaments of society. It’s sole mandate though, corresponds neatly to the premise that runs choc-through this series: which is survival.

The question that Prometheus explicitly asks (and explicitly doesn’t answer) is “if the Engineers created us, why did they change their minds.” From a philosophical perspective, also an excellent question, and a great platform from which is launch a franchise, a second instalment etc. If I may be so bold, I have a suggestion. If one looks at the resentment felt towards David (by Vickers, by Holloway, even by Shaw, though somewhat toned down), his stated view that “every child wants to kill its parents”, and his understated resentments to his charges (whom he admits he must role-play to keep them comfortable, and one he directly infects, albeit with Holloway’s implicit permission) then we see similar possibilities emerging between the Engineers and their creation. After all, would you be discomforted if you’d deposited your DNA in a remote galaxy only to be awoken from a 2000 year stasis by a mewling collection who had developed the technology to reach their creator. In other words, did the Engineers decide to destroy us in order to assure their own survival? Isn’t survival, after all, the theme running through the entire flick – survival of aliens, androids, humans, machines, installations, spaceships, planets, transmissions...

If Prometheus can be accused of serving up a dish filled with life’s cruel disappointments, it must also be praised for remonstrating that in spite of incomplete beliefs and unassailable odds, fighting for survival is what we must do. David might dispassionately quote from a film: “There is nothing in the desert; and no man needs nothing.” In fact, David is wrong. The nothingness, the emptiness in the desert is something vital that calls to man and reminds him who he needs to be. In other words, in the consciousness of an absence, there is an involuntary desire to add, to fill, to enter. Perhaps this why we have created a God. Perhaps, also, that dissatisfaction with the desert (the physical vacuum of space), and the desert of the real (a mental and spiritual construct), is why our species has survived as long as we have. It is rare for any film, or any story, to take us this far out of our comfort zone. This is what makes Prometheus a classic – for the questions it bravely asks, and leaves us to ponder as we continue on our way through the heavens, lonely but not unassisted.

Other reviews REALLY worth reading:
http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html
http://www.crankleft.com/blog/2012/june/12/explaining-prometheus--whats-this-movie-about2
http://mitu.nu/2012/06/06/prometheus-2012/
http://www.ratherronge.co.za/html/sub_content.aspx?reviewid=1960
http://io9.com/5919306/another-theory-about-the-meaning-of-prometheus

How did life start? Where did it come from? Prometheus and science...

SHOOT: Personally I feel the idea of the origins of life have never been more topical than now. Firstly, we're seeing some of our world's most resilient and wealthy powers (the USA. Europe and Japan) appear scarily...mortal. Secondly, as the Space Shuttle has been retired, other scientists and geniuses including SA born Elon Musk (co-founder of PayPal) have proved that putting a rocket into space is just another game for geeks, and apparently rocket science isn't what it was.Thirdly , the movie Prometheus probes very bravely the idea that God may not exist, and that what is out there might be grim - things like worms, and monsters (some apparently inside of us, or in our image, and of our own making). Fourthly, at the same time exophiles have been discovered deep inside South Africa's gold mines - tiny worms living off bacteria. Finally there are a few probes and spaceships either on their way to prospect for life (Curiosity reaches Mars in August, about a month from now) including missions to the moons of Jupiter. In addition, the SKA is probably going to improve our ability to look into space; we'll see better, further and in more detail in the universe, and the processing power that goes with that could be some kind of game changer in terms of our ability to know whether there is life out there (or whether, even if there is, we'll ever have some kind of encounter).

For my part, I believe bacteria are the basic seeds of space. I'm pretty sure that bacteria ought to live in subterranean situations wherever conditions aren't too volatile. Bacteria might actually be very abundant. The point being, we shouldn't be looking for little green men, but into a petri dish, which might say: TAKE US TO YOUR LEADER.


For the rest of this blog post I defer to the experts in this field. If this New Scientist article stimulates you, be sure to read the whole thing by following the link at the end.

Life: is it inevitable or just a fluke?

It is generally assumed that once simple life has emerged, it gradually evolves into more complex forms, given the right conditions. But that's not what happened on Earth. After simple cells first appeared, there was an extraordinarily long delay - nearly half the lifetime of the planet - before complex ones evolved. What's more, simple cells gave rise to complex ones just once in four billion years of evolution: a shockingly rare anomaly, suggestive of a freak accident.

If simple cells had slowly evolved into more complex ones over billions of years, all kinds of intermediate cells would have existed and some still should. But there are none. Instead, there is a great gulf. On the one hand, there are the bacteria, tiny in both their cell volume and genome size: they are streamlined by selection, pared down to a minimum: fighter jets among cells. On the other, there are the vast and unwieldy eukaryotic cells, more like aircraft carriers than fighter jets. A typical single-celled eukaryote is about 15,000 times larger than a bacterium, with a genome to match.
The great divide

All the complex life on Earth - animals, plants, fungi and so on - are eukaryotes, and they all evolved from the same ancestor. So without the one-off event that produced the ancestor of eukaryotic cells, there would have been no plants and fish, no dinosaurs and apes. Simple cells just don't have the right cellular architecture to evolve into more complex forms.

Why not? Read the rest.

10 Years of Peak Oil: Lessons learned [Kjell Aleklett, Professor at Uppsala University (Sweden), President of ASPO International]

Diary of a Sub 40 Minute 10K #6

Ordinarily I'd be satisfied with this week, and today's 6km TT (29:48) except one of the Bayswater Bailers, Mike Collings,showed Craig and I his personal best in a training log book. 26:59.

Thanks to that piece of information, Craig had an inspired run this morning (in spite of it being one of the coldest mornings of the year) - running his own personal best 27:40, and biting a 40 second chunk off my PB (28:21).  Seeing Craig running off into the dawn, and cracking a time like that ruined any satisfaction I could have taken out of my extremely modest effort.

This is Craig [left] a few minutes after his run. Take a look at the shoes he wore on the run. What made his run even more special was that for the first 10 minutes Craig was chatting about a movie - remember this was on a 2km+ uphill. Craig also held back a little for his panting partner (me), who was feeling both heavier than usual, and confused that despite the effort it wasn't registering as a higher heart rate.  Finally Craig revved, changed gears and became a spot that disappeared on the horizon.

At the 3km turn Craig was around 30 metres ahead of me, so he probably turned on around 15 minutes, or 15:10 at most. I turned at 15:28.
My goal, which I expressed to Craig before the run, was to run the first 3km in 15:10-15:30 and then to finish in under 30 minutes. 

If Craig's first 3km were fairly sedate, his last 3km sizzled.  He must have done 12:30 back while I (refer to the graphic below) slowed to the slowest pace, ultimately, for the whole run.   I suppose I was concerned that I could aggravate the hamstring injury, but I can't say I felt it at all on this run, not on the uphill or the downhill. 

I reckon I could probably have run the 2.5km - 4km harder; certainly even my heart rate went below 160 during this section.  This was certainly a far less even effort than last week.

At about the 12 minute mark, essentially the top of the uphill it's important to keep up the pace - but if I can project back I think I was still concerned that striding risked bringing on the injury.  I recall taking quick, short steps on the downhills rather than risk injury taking longer steps; this obviously slowed me down and lowered the heart rate.

Now take a look [below] at the dip in heart rate at just over 24 minutes.  At this point, with about 1 kilometre to go, your HR has to be at 160 minimum, and better yet, 165, and from there, build towards 170+.  That's how I ran my 28:21.  In any event, noticing the 'weak' spots, or decreases in effort makes it easier to run more effectively the next time.  This is where a Heart Rate Monitor really comes into its own both as a training and as a racing tool.

For Reference here are the basic stats from my PB about 4 weeks ago.  HR average 161 and Max 172, both substantially higher than today's effort.

One aspect that must be mentioned is although I was determined to do a solid first 3km run, I felt very out of breath.  I'm not quite sure how to explain this.  Firstly I think I was heavier than I was when I did the PB, and I have to admit I haven't been as strict on the low carbo thing this week as I have in the past.  A few slices of bread, the odd chocolate and piece of cake, and almost a sixpack of Windhoek Lights during the course of the week.  So for the coming week I'd like to be a bit stricter in every sense - fewer beers, fewer carbs, smaller meals in general.

The other aspect was that I woke up this morning with sore calves.  So I may have gone into this run a little tired physically.  Didn't sleep particularly well either. Oddly enough, on the run I didn't really feel any leg fatigue, which I definitely did feel during the 6km when I hurt myself.  That run felt like a hard run on tired legs.  Today's run felt hard, but legs weren't as tired as lungs. 
Might add one or two swim workouts this week just to bring on the aerobics a tad.

Overall though, glad I've made progress since the last 6km, which I did in 31:17 - so down about 1:20 on that run.  Running a 10km trail race on Saturday, so will probably push the next 6km in 2 weeks.  I'll be doing that run - the 6km - with all guns blazing, under the expectation that my injury is healed, and can handle a hard downhill sprint taking fairly large strides.  I'll be gunning for a new PB, so a sub 28:20.  Lots of work to do in the meantime.

Memories of Robben Island

Hamburg (Eastern Cape) in Pictures

"Why does my burger look different?" - McDonald's photo shoot

McDonald's quite cleverly undoes the cynicism of the question "Why do the advertised burgers look better than the real thing" by answering it in a way that makes for a not-bad advertisement in itself.

Noakes on Nutrition (for Ironmen) - Published in TriathlonPLUS July 2012

Catcher of the Free State Sun [Published in COUNTRY LIFE, July 2012]

TEXT AND PICTURES NICK VAN DER LEEK

 

For Free State artist Frans Claerhout ‘capturing the sun’ had a special meaning, and it’s revealed in the humanity and compassion in his works

I’m looking for the sort of subjects favoured by the Belgian-born, Free State artist Frans Claerhout: donkeys, sunflowers and ‘madonnas with children’. My father and I are heading towards Tweespruit, where Claerhout worked as a Roman Catholic missionary, venturing over roads I’ve never been on before.

A maroon blanket drying on a fence around a hut catches my eye and I stop the car. My father looks at me, puzzled.

"symbolising a simple, sober way of life”

“I just want to get a shot of this,” I say, digging out my camera and nodding towards the blanket.

Read the rest.

There's an elephant in my soup...

Why Brands Are Becoming Publishers [VIDEO]

And Death Shall Have Dominion

Half a life lived
perhaps time to mourn the living
an old father, weakened, hairy-eared, a soup splattered beard
wearied by the disease and death of yet another old dog
so make time count
an ex girlfriend says
your father's not a spring chicken any more
his death, a flimsy film
separating his death
from mine

every moment
a moment wasted
every moment
precious
yet innumerable
yet limited
beside the infinity of death

every moment
a moment promised
every moment
a moment cherished
yet a lover quits
with black tears and blotted cheeks
begs friendship
rather than love
to endure life
but not to enjoy it

no God
no heaven
just the dull, vivid clockwork of the universe
the intricate, bold, mathematics of it
a zero sum game
all the lessons learned
the sports
the walks [the wounds]
the sights
the smells
the clanging sounds
the dozens learned and lost

to the worms
the birds
the crows
the heartless stars
the cold sun
the ice of the morning
the tasteless soil

the moon
and the supermoon
the rain
and the rainbows
the sweep of seasons that sweep no more
the great tide of tides
that rise and fall no more
the quake
the blast
the stampeding mob
the books, the verses
all vain, against the press of time

life is but a memory
remembered
ineffectual, powerful
and yet powerless as a dream
easily forgotten
easily lost in the aromas and flavours and fabrics of yet another morning
a morning that could be the last
the last taste of orange juice
the last sip of water
the last sting of bacon spit shooting off the pan
the last sight of a green leaf or the shimmer of a polished doorknob

the newspapers may echo
the news
a car crash, a murder, a fall from a mountaintop
victims - a reporter writes
as though there was no pain
as though losing a life is like losing money
no desperate, furtive, harrowing to hang on to life
the clawing of fingernails into the knots of a carpet, or the knots of a table
the horror of it all slipping away
unheralded, ungreeted, unanticipated
unsummarised
all the terrified screams
the [un]closure
the slow gush, the stew, the slick
of blood
into the ultimate bankruptcy of the living

at the end of it all
possessions gained and lost
at the end of it all
fitness and sinew unravelled, cut and dried
at the end of it all
all lost
everything asunder
for one and all
without exception

maybe books (diaries, articles, letters, birthday cards)
or children
or scratches on a bedpost
may outlive us
but after the last heartbeat
nothingness
for there is no soul
just the wish of such a thing
and no heaven
just the ancient worship of the sun
and I,
and the universe
all of this from nothing
and now back

to black.

The Arctic is warming roughly twice as fast as the rest of the planet.

Diary of a Sub 40 Minute 10K #5

For the first time in two weeks, I felt confident enough to pick up the pace this morning. On today's 6km run (31:17) although I started modestly, and felt heavy, and ran with a mutt it was gratifying to note that I challenged the previous ceiling (31:15).

Running mate Craig Booth came within a second of challenging my record this morning (28:21). What was impressive was Craig's outbound run - although he turned at a brisk 15:10 I'm sure he could shave another 30 seconds off that time if he starts quickly and maintains a consistent pace.

If you look at the above graphic it's clear that the pace reached its maximum right at the end. It was at this point that my right hamstring seized up 2 weeks ago, and although the last 500 metres wasn't a sprint, the leg seems to have recovered 70%-80% to where it needs to be.



The plan for next week is really to focus on diet, as one of the alarming things in today's run was how heavy and bloated I felt. I drank 5 beers (lite beers, but still) during Saturday's rugby and could really feel it. So beer is at the top of my list of banned substances. Going to stay off the stuff at least until next Sunday.

I'll also be running Albrecht in its usual slot, but am going to stay off the Vibrams for another week or two. I may add the odd swim or two and gym session or two just to burn the excess that I've added this weekend. Next Sunday I'd like to go under 30 minutes and the week after - presuming all goes according to plan - try to challenge the record: 27:59 or better. By July I need to be nudging 27:30 and August 27:00. Let's see what happens.

David Nalbandian was disqualified from the Aegon Championships men's singles final against Marin Cilic on Sunday after kicking an advertising hoarding into a line judge's leg. [VIDEO]

This was bouncing off the living room ceiling this evening...

Was a bit nervous touching it, as it could carry rabies. Caught it and released it - don't know whether it's going to survive the cold night. Have absolutely no idea how it got in - all the windows are closed. Maybe it flew in through the door when I came in?

Mars Curiosity Rover Animation

How the Aussies treated the Aborigines

Governor Phillip reckons Arabanoo adapted to his captivity remarkably well. Really?  Turns out he adapted so well that Arab-dude was forced to do stuff, shackled to the hilt, and despite his marvellous accomodations he tried to escape, but shortly thereafter died (he was a prisoner for just 4 and a half months before dying a probably horrible death).

Which way is she turning?

“Our visual system, if it has a choice, seems to prefer the view from above,” says Dr Niko Troje of Queen's University in Canada. “It’s a perceptual bias. It makes sense to assume that we are looking down onto objects that are located on the ground below us rather than floating in the air above us.”

According to a study performed by Dr Troje and his colleagues, viewing angle is all-important in the answer offered up by people's brains to the silhouette. As people are naturally predisposed to assume they are looking at things from above, they tend to assume they are and so decide that the lady is spinning clockwise.

Public Acceptance of Evolution by Nations [GRAPHIC]

I reckon South Africa would probably squeeze in the bottom somewhere, between Turkey and the United States.  It's interesting that so many can be so divided on a simple question.  That means quite a few people, in fact entire countries in some cases, are completely on the wrong track.  Because make no mistake, your beliefs have an impact on your destiny, and a communities beliefs on their common destiny.

Jedi Kittens Strike Back [VIDEO]

Diary of a Sub 40 Minute 10K #4

 There's not much to report this week since the injury I picked up last week Sunday (3 June) has been a thorn in my side (well, a stretched right hamstring) ever since.  I was dismayed to find that the injury felt worse for the next two days, and by Saturday, almost a week later, I went for a run again for the first time.  I found that the leg seemed fine running uphill, but felt increasingly tentative the more I increased my stride length - especially running downhill.  So, in order to safeguard myself I've been purposefully trying to keep my stride as short as possible.

I managed to get through Saturday's 12.5km run without injury, and then ran a very easy 6km the next day in icy conditions.  My last run was yesterday (Tuesday), once again in -4C or -5C.  The cold didn't bother me as much as the nagging discomfort in my hamstring - a tightness.  Worse, I feel like I've lost all my fitness.  Feel heavy, slow and tired.

Because of the increased discomfort on yesterday's 7km run, I was iffy about this morning's run.  Since my alarm didn't go off, it was probably just as well.
I'll probably head out again tomorrow, try to run a flat route.

Since there's not much to write about in terms of pace, HR etc, I'm going to draw your attention to some funky additions Nike have made to their NikePlus site.  Have a look at this:

 Interestingly the above stats are based on the past week, when I've definitely been sub par to my usual pattern, which bodes well ito comparing myself to my peers.

 The trick is going to be getting that 1km time down to 4 minutes and then lower still.  And that 5km time down to 20 minutes and less.  That's the only way to realistically achieve a Sub 40 minute 10K.

 It's interesting how my pace has dropped quite radically since March.  I think the reason is due to running further, and more regularly.  I expect the pace will level out from here on out. I'd like to extend time spent running off-road (middle icon) and also time spent running in daylight (right-hand icon).

As for the future, I'm gunning for a 10km race at Windmill Casino in early August.  I expect I'll use up the few remaining days in June recovering from this injury, and dedicate July to getting back on the ball - improving speed and stamina.  I'll try to get close to 47 minutes or 48 minutes on that run.  Let's see how it goes though.